Material

From soda cans and ladders to electrical wiring and airplane fuselages, countless products are made of aluminum. Along with steel, it’s become one of the world’s most widely used metals. While you’ve almost certainly used a product containing this metal … Read More

Thermal spraying is a coating process that involves the application of heated particulate matter on a surface to protect against heat, cold, electricity, moisture and rust. The particulate matter — either metal, ceramics, plastics or composites — is heated using … Read More

If you are looking for a list of spectacular manufacturing failures, where products fail to perform as intended, that is not this story (although I would bet at least one of these listed failures happened in every one of those … Read More

Accounting for approximately 8% of the Earth’s crust, aluminum is the world’s third-most abundant metal. In 2016, global production of aluminum reached an all-time high of 58.8 million tons — and there’s no signs of production slowing down anytime soon. … Read More

A hinge is a mechanical component that’s used to join the surfaces of two objects. As shown in the adjacent photo, it allows the surfaces to rotate around a fixed axis. One of the most common applications of hinges is … Read More

Just because two items are made of steel doesn’t necessarily mean they feature the same type of steel. There are many different types of steel, the two most common being stainless steel and carbon steel. While both types may look the same, … Read More

Identified by its characteristic dark-gold color, brass is a metal alloy consisting of copper and zinc. It’s often preferred over other metal alloys for its color, which is why doorknobs are often made of brass. However, brass is used in … Read More